Looking For A Stranded Harmonium by Muriel Pensivy

Looking For A Stranded Harmonium

Knitting
July 2023
Sport (12 wpi) ?
29 stitches and 33 rows = 4 inches
in stranded colourwork motif including purl stitches
US 2 - 2.75 mm
170 - 190 yards (155 - 174 m)
variable sizes to fit different hand dimensions: 18.5cm/7.25" - 23.5cm/9.25" (circumference) - 14.2cm/5.5" - 21cm/8.25" (length)
English
This pattern is available from knitsonik.teachable.com for £40.00.

This amazing design provides a small canvas on which to:

  • experiment with shading sequences and contrast.
  • explore accurately changing sizes through changing gauge.
  • investigate your preferred approach to holding two yarns for working stranded colourwork.
  • meditate on the relationships between handedness in music playing and handedness in knitting!

Looking For A Stranded Harmonium is a mismatched pair of mitts that celebrates how the hands play different things together on the harmonium in Music For A Found Harmonium by Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Divergent shading sequences used for knitting each mitt emphasise the distinct musical parts played by each hand within the music. Meanwhile, the combination of knit and purl stitches and stranded colourwork provides a joyous opportunity to explore handedness in knitting as well as in musical performance! There are several example palettes shown for this project, and you can work the mitts at different gauges to get the right fit for your hands.

Looking For A Stranded Harmonium is not currently available to buy as a standalone design; it’s the fourth release of six accessory patterns in the highly original and exciting Yarnadelic Remixes 0.1 project by Felicity (Felix) Ford and Muriel Pensivy. Each pattern in this project is rooted in music, and the project has a rich, multimedia home on Teachable. The designs are contextualised with inspiring video and audio content that really brings their stories and musical links to life: https://knitsonik.teachable.com/p/yarnadelic-remixes

Details on size options

Because of the underlying mathematical relationship between the musical notes and the motifs used in the Yarnadelic Remixes 0.1 collection, for several of the patterns, adjusting the stitch-counts will throw the patterns out of alignment. For this reason, re-sizing designs to make them bigger or smaller is most easily achieved by tweaking the gauge at which they are knit. That way the stitch and round counts remain consistent, yet you are able to get a more exact fit.

While swatching for the designs in this collection for which this is applicable, please consult the relevant GAUGE TABLE provided. These will assist you with working out which stitch (width) and round (height) counts you will need to achieve in order to get the best fit.

GAUGE TABLES, test-knitting and detailed notes on these patterns enable you to get the best fit by getting the right gauge for your hands.

Yarn

Shades and quantities of yarn for samples are given to help with calculating yarn needed for your project(s). Use the same yarn shades or different combinations to make your own remix of this design!

The samples each use John Arbon’s Yarnadelic Sport Weight / Heavy 4 ply, 333m (364yds) per 100g in the following shades and quantities:

HARMONIUM (SONG FOR A) COLOURWAY
A (MCH) Harmonium (song for a) - 9g/30m (33 yds)
B Ordinary Joe (undyed) - 14g/47m (51 yds)
C The Beautiful Ones - 8g/27m (29 yds)
D Hey Moon - 6g/20m (22 yds)
E Black Gold of the Sun - 10g/33m (36 yds)

PINK MOON COLOURWAY
(substitute A-E as shown)

A (MC) Pink Moon
B Ordinary Joe (undyed)
C The Beautiful Ones
D Nobody Knows
E Badi Da

GALLETA GUITAR COLOURWAY
(substitute A-E as shown)

A (MC) Galleta Guitar
B Ordinary Joe
C The Beautiful Ones
D Hey Moon
E Canto de Ossanha

Credits

Looking For A Stranded Harmonium Concept & Design
Muriel Pensivy

Pattern Layout
Felicity (Felix) Ford

Tech-Editing
Tian Connaughton, Frauke Urban

Test Knitting
Muriel Pensivy (hat), Helen Beckett (mitts)

Project & Launch Support
Tian Connaughton & her Pattern Partnership

Yarn Support
John Arbon Textiles

Photography
Felicity (Felix) Ford

Knitwear Stylist
Kupa Matondo

Model
Faith Makawa

Makeup Artist
Belle-Amie Kaldjob

Location
Blewbury Studio